ONE HOT SUMMER 7

Will the monsoons ever come?

Will I see lightning?

Will I hear thunder?

Once more?

Yes, the monsoons will come.

But now it is summer.

Doves coo and 

the elf owl hoots a sweet lullaby

to sing you to sleep.

Listen.

Hush now,

sleep,

the monsoons have come.

Raindrops splash

against your window.

Cracks of lightning shine

in the sky,

and everything is cool

and green,

once more.

    So, there you have it.  Everyone is waiting for the monsoon season to begin again.  I hope you have enjoyed working your way through a week's worth of waiting for the monsoons.  
       I did want to share the headline from yesterday's newspaper with you.  In Tucson, we really do wait for the monsoons to come.

This poem is inspired by NOW IT IS WINTER, written by Eileen Spinelli.  The ending to her story is very different from mine.  Her's is very elegant.  Please read her book to see how it makes a great mentor poem.  I hope my ending makes sense.  

      Now for your poetry challenge.  Look at poems you like and find what you think is a good end line.  Now make that line the first line for your own poem.  Have fun writing.

Writing Children's Poetry is the best place 

I know to play.

CHORUS

A bird symphony
surrounds
red of cardinal
and gila wood pecker
blue of jay
purple and yellow finch
rosy pink of dove
brown quail and cactus wren
gray of a mocking bird
voices swirl
trill high
sing deep
some tap a beat
the music lifts
pulls my head
higher, higher
makes me feel
like I just might
              Y!
         L
    F

A dove
sits up on high
in the old Saguaro
watching doves alit on the fence
below.

Two quails
followed by two 
more quails bobbling along
pacing on the scrubby desert 
running

And then
a fat lizard
races across concrete
in the early morning hot winds
well fed.


      When I woke this morning, quite a production was going on outside my window.  There was even a hummingbird whirring past.  I felt privileged be a part of all the nature in my backyard.  What is going on in your back yard?  Can you write a cinquain about it.

haiku

swallowing sunlight
chicks in the nest beg crop milk
from their dove father


no dress rehearsal
a baby quail pokes his beak
through the fragile shell


    I've been reading a really good haiku book, SEEDS FROM A BIRCH TREE, Writing Haiku and the Spiritual Journey, written by Clark Strand, copyright 1997, published by Hyperion.  I've really been enjoying the book and think I may need to purchase this book for my permanent library.
   In the book, Strand makes a strong argument for writing haiku in the traditional five, seven, five; three line form.
    Your poetry challenge for today is to find a poetry book you'd like to read and spend ten minutes reading.  It is your choice if you pick an anthology, a collection of poems by one poet, or a text on how to write poetry.  Have fun.  And what ever you choose, will you let me know what you are reading?

WATCHING BIRDS

Thrasher, 
tanager,
finch,
Cactus wren,
warbler, 
Gambel's quail,
white-winged dove,
Gila woodpecker,
phainopepla,
even a vireo
all know
my bird feeder
is the place to go.

And two hawks circle
float in the sky
making those birds
flutter and fly.


    The birds are having a grand time in my backyard today.  I've counted 10 white winged doves sitting on the fence in a row.  The music is wonderful from the small song birds.  The Gila woodpecker is a pest.  She lives in one of the holes in the Saguaro and dines at my house.  I wouldn't mind, but she keeps trying to drink from my hummingbird feeder and with her long this beak, she does a great job of it.  If you were a bird, what kind would you be?  Can you write a persona poem today in the voice of a bird?  Have fun.

WEDNESDAY WALK

High in the ocotillo
sits a small hummingbird,
cheery, singing, tiny fellow,
he calls out this happy word--
              CHEEP


      The birds are definitely becoming more active.  Besides all our desert doves, I saw several phainopepla this morning and a hawk swooped to sit on top of the telephone pole.  All the small birds scattered.  While I was eating my lunch yesterday, I heard a roadrunner.  My cactus wren is being quite noisy, too.   What is your favorite bird?  Can you write a poem about birds?